Carow J. Adams was born in New York in 1951. She is a feminist-vegan, advocate, activist, and independent schowar whose work expwores de cuwturaw construction of inter-sectionaw oppression, uh-hah-hah-hah.[3] At a young age, Adams was infwuenced by her moder, who was bof a feminist and a civiw rights activist, and awso her fader who she recawws, was a wawyer who participated in one of de first wawsuits regarding de powwution of Lake Erie, one of de Great Lakes in de norf eastern region of de United States.[4][5] Adams was raised in a smaww viwwage in New York cawwed, Forestviwwe. After skipping a grade and taking cowwege Engwish courses in high schoow, Adams attended de University of Rochester and majored in Engwish and History.[6] As an undergraduate at de University of Rochester, she was invowved in bringing women's studies courses to de University's course catawog.[7] She graduated from dere wif a BA in 1972, and obtained her Master of Divinity degree from Yawe Divinity Schoow in 1976. In 1974 Adams moved to Boston to study wif Mary Dawy. Adams recawws her time wif Mary as, " a fascinating time of conversation and mutuaw critiqwe...My evowving feminist-veganism
and her evowving biophiwic phiwosophy bumped up against each
oder at times. Usuawwy, at weast in de beginning, she had de wast word."[8][9][a] She was executive director of de Chautauqwa County Ruraw Ministry, Inc., Dunkirk, New York from de wate 1970s to 1987.[7] Adams wives in Texas wif her husband, de Reverend Dr. Bruce Buchanan, and is a member of de First Presbyterian Church of Dawwas, where her husband is an associate pastor.[10]

Adams recawws discovering de dead body of her famiwy pony dat was kiwwed in a hunting accident, den eating a hamburger dat night. She concwuded dat it was hypocriticaw for her to mourn de deaf of her pony, yet have no probwem eating a swaughtered cow. She became a vegetarian dat night.[11] She is awso a pioneer of feminist care deory in animaw edics.[12] Adams continues to work towards de edicaw treatment of animaws and oder forms of activism. She does dis drough visiting cowweges, teaching courses, and drough de internet and different forums of sociaw media in which she can reach out to a wider audience. During de past five years Adams has been very invowved in hewping to create dis innovative urban devewopment spearheaded by The Stewpot, in Dawwas Texas. Adams has awso been working on a deoreticaw autobiography and on a book about Jane Austen and care giving.[13] She has awso been working on a project on “Towards a Phiwosophy of Care drough Care.” An essay about dis is fordcoming in Criticaw Inqwiry. Adams continues to show The Sexuaw Powitics of Meat Swide Show to hewp and spread her deories as she can, uh-hah-hah-hah. Lastwy Adams is compweting a book wif her co-audors Patti Breitman and Virginia Messina, Even Vegans Die. Carow J. Adams in regards to her intentions on dis pwanet said, " “In my wife, I want to do de weast harm possibwe,”she said. “I want to wawk wightwy on dis Earf.”[14] and de accompwishments of her wife and her goaws and ambitions have refwected dis phiwosophy. Humorouswy, yet awso very commendabwy, Adams was chosen as one of "20 Badass Veg Women Who Are Making History" by a website cawwed chooseveg.com. Oders among de wist were de once worwd number one for women's tennis, Venus Wiwwiams and Ewwen DeGeneres, from de Ewwen DeGeneres Show.[15]

Adams is one of severaw peopwe who provided information used in de writing of de book Striking at de Roots: A Practicaw Guide to Animaw Activism (2008) by Mark Hawdorne.

The Sexuaw Powitics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Criticaw Theory[edit]

The Sexuaw Powitics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Criticaw Theory discusses how, especiawwy in times of shortage, women often give men de meat dey perceive to be de "best" food. She awso discusses de connections between feminism and vegetarianism, and patriarchy and meat eating, historicawwy and drough de reading of witerary texts. An important deory formuwated in de book is de absent referent, which she uses to expwain de fact dat peopwe keep eating meat, and is awso behind de objectification of women in pornography.[16]

In The Sexuaw Powitics of Meat, Adams parawwews de patriarchaw system wif de rewationship between humans and animaws. The mawe connotations associated wif meat eating, not onwy highwights species ineqwawity, but awso defines distinct gender rowes. Simpwy, meat signifies mawe dominance over femawes as “men who batter women have often used de absence of meat as a pretext for viowence against women, uh-hah-hah-hah.”[17] Adams procwaims dat our cuwture has become preoccupied wif reducing non-human animaws to a source of consumption, a fragmentation of deir individuaw species. A recurring deme droughout her work is dat men dat feew a sense of entitwement over animaws are simiwar to men who abuse, expwoit, or degrade women for deir bodies.

In Adam's Animaws and Women Feminist Theoreticaw Expworations, she argues dat de sociaw context behind femawe oppression and sexuaw viowence has a direct tie to de way humans mistreat oder species. Humans tend to deem animaws as an inferior species and in dis way, justify deir actions regarding animaw expwoitation, uh-hah-hah-hah. According to Adams, men regard women in a simiwar wight. This sense of entitwement over animaws transwates into human rewations and men begin to wabew women as inferior as weww “avaiwabwe for abuse.”[18] The estabwished discourse shifts from a negative image for nonhuman animaws to a sexist portrayaw of women, uh-hah-hah-hah. Constantwy, men refer to women using wanguage such as dogs, chicks, bunny, which aww indicate men using women as a mere means.[19] Given current speciesism, individuaws use non-human animaws for deir production, i.e. cows for miwk, hens for eggs, or femawe dog to breed more puppies. Humans use chicks as simpwy physicaw beings simiwar to how men may expwoit de femawe body for pweasure.

In The Pornography of Meat, Adams draws de visuaw comparison between meat advertised on a shewf and women portrayed in particuwar advertisements or magazines. The idea of consumption pways a significant rowe in a cuwture dat compare women to a product, someding dat's not onwy attainabwe, but a consumabwe person, uh-hah-hah-hah.[20] It is important to note dat consumption may refer to witeraw digestion or rader simpwy, a desire for someone considered attainabwe by anoder individuaw. Adams juxtaposes commonwy unnoticed advertisements in de wocaw grocery store to sexist and misogynistic images of women, uh-hah-hah-hah. Furder, she creates de “A” category, which creates an idea of white mawe supremacy in a civiwized society, whereas de oder in dis sense, incwudes wanguage dat rewates to different races, non-human animaws, and women, uh-hah-hah-hah. Adams argues dat modern cuwture ideawizes de white mawe figure and demonstrates dat he represents an advanced civiwized society. The audor argues dat any individuaw who doesn’t faww into de “A” category wikewy faces a reference to animaws, now seen as derogatory and inferior. In dis work, she incwudes an image of women wabewed according to her body parts simiwar to how butcher advertises meat cuts. The underwying premise remains de same; current cuwture has created a desire for consumption from non-human animaws, genders, and races.

She is de audor of severaw oder books, incwuding Living Among Meat Eaters: The Vegetarian's Survivaw Handbook. This book advises vegetarians to ask if dey are at peace wif deir own vegetarianism and provides communication skiwws for avoiding abuse whiwe dining wif meat-eating friends, famiwy, and coworkers who may be hostiwe. Her most recent work, Burger, fowwows de history, business, cuwture, and gendered powitics of de hamburger. Aww de whiwe, drawing upon de history of de veggie burger, and its revivaw drough contemporary investors in de food industry.

Carow J. Adams' activism incwudes "experience of working for sociaw justice (which incwudes justice for nonhuman animaws) and against domestic viowence, homewessness, racism, and viowence against animaws."[21] A warge part of Adams’ wife is dedicated to feminism as weww. She was raised in a househowd wif her two sisters where dis spirit of feminism was nurtured. Her vegetarianism came after her feminism .[22] Whiwe a sophomore at de University of Rochester she attended her first Women's Liberation meeting and water did fiewd work at de Women's Liberation Center. These experiences and research, as weww as de event of her pony being kiwwed, showed her dat her feminism and vegetarianism were rewated. Through some feminist studies she was conducting she reawized dat bof were connected droughout de history of feminism as weww. She found dat many feminists were vegetarians, and she awso found muwtipwe books written by feminists, on vegetarianism as a “part of de feminist awakening of de hero”.[22] A furder wook into de newwy connected demes proved to be very important to de course Adams’ work wouwd take in de future. She found dat a patriarchaw edics ”naturawizes and normawizes viowence...and perpetuates human exceptionawism dat permits de oppression of oder beings”.[22] Thus her deory of de patriarchaw essence begins, and de creation of The Sexuaw Powitics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Criticaw Theory took form.

Adams has expwained dat her activism taught her how to write by awwowing her to dink about how “ideas are experienced by oders”.[23] Fighting on de non-dominant side of dings drough her activism awwowed her to return to her book-writing wif a deeper wevew of understanding sufficient enough to know what was going on, uh-hah-hah-hah. The voice she had in her activism in de 1970s awso hewped her obtain her deoreticaw voice used in her books. Adams expwains, in many interviews, dat her activism taught her how to write.

In her chapter, “What Came Before de Sexuaw Powitics of Meat” in de book Species Matters: Humane Advocacy and Cuwturaw Theory, Adams expwains dat she and her husband were activists in de 1970s against racism.[24] They wived in Dunkirk, New York and tried to make de area progressive by pushing for minority housing to move into de ruraw area. Her husband, de wocaw minister was receiving infwammatory wetters from his congregation and Adams fought wif inner sewf between doing as much as she can, and stopping where de situation became dangerous. She was spoken about on de caww-in radio show “What’s Your Opinion”. One day when she was wistening she was so furious about de inaccurate information being towd dat she cawwed in and corrected aww de miss information, uh-hah-hah-hah. Regardwess of what peopwe said, Adams and her husband continued deir activism and fight for wow-to-moderate income housing.

Furder, in her wife Adams has supported animaw rights and wants to educate peopwe about vegan food and introducing peopwe to vegan eating.[25] She expwains we aww get protein from pwants, some peopwe get it directwy from pwants and oders chose to wet animaws process protein for dem; she has awso coined de term feminized protein for eggs and dairy products, as it is pwant protein produced by using de reproductive cycwe of femawe animaws.[21]

Barker, Leswie (1990-01-26). "The sexuaw powitics of meat: Writer finds a wink between vegetarianism and feminism". Dawwas Morning News. Retrieved 2009-02-16. So were her experiences in Dunkirk, N.Y., where she and her husband devewoped a hot wine for battered women, uh-hah-hah-hah. Many cawwers spoke of feewing "wike a piece of meat.' Oder women said deir husbands had beaten dem because dey didn't serve meat wif dinner. And some said deir husbands had kiwwed de famiwy pet. The impwicit warning: "You couwd be next." (Restricted access.) Abstract.

Vwitos, Pauw (2003-09-12). "The Pornography of Meat". Times onwine. London, uh-hah-hah-hah. Archived from de originaw on 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2009-02-16. Adams's new book, The Pornography of Meat, cowwects some of de materiaw in support of her ideas dat she has been sent by admirers of her work. [...] When it was picked up by right-wing media pundits in de United States as de epitome of powiticaw correctness gone mad, Adams was mocked as de woman who bewieves dat cows have de same rights as women, uh-hah-hah-hah. In de United Kingdom, Auberon Waugh suggested in de Sunday Tewegraph dat "Carow J. Adams" did not exist, and dat The Sexuaw Powitics of Meat was a dewiberatewy provocative piece of satiricaw sophism written by a mawe academic.

Menaker, Daniew (2005-01-02) An Awt-Cabaret Diva, The New York Times. (Restricted access.) "Parawwewing de ewided rewationship between metaphor and referent is de unacknowwedged rowe of fragmentation in eating fwesh", from The Sexuaw Powitics of Meat p. 60 [1][2]